


Kinship

by dwarrowdams



Series: Eadgyd, But Not Sad [12]
Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Family Feels, Family Fluff, Gen, watch me parse my trauma off into other characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:54:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28099524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dwarrowdams/pseuds/dwarrowdams
Summary: Eadgyd talks with Dalla—her sister Frida's wife and a newly inducted Beorning—about Dalla's complicated past.  TW for mentions of abuse and neglect.
Series: Eadgyd, But Not Sad [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1877335
Kudos: 1
Collections: All the Eadgyd All the Time





	Kinship

**Author's Note:**

> I don't think I've mentioned Dalla in this series, but she's Eadgyd's sister in law (the wife of her youngest sister, Frida). She's originally from Dale but is now a Beorning because of reasons that will become clearer once you read this.
> 
> (Also, Dalla, Frida, and Theo are a triad, which might not be important in the scope of this fic, but is worth noting.)
> 
> As noted in the summary, this does contain mentions of parental abuse/neglect (mostly emotional, but there's a mention of physical neglect [specifically withholding food]), so please skip those bits (or skip this piece altogether) if those subjects are triggering for you.

It had been a while since anyone had joined the Beornings, but the festivities were a familiar comfort to Eadgyd. They were more subdued than they’d normally be due to her mother’s death, but it was still a joyous event. She, Avina, and Frida had done their best to make it a pleasant affair, preparing a wide array of foods and setting up tables and decorations outside the house. They’d even procured some honeyed mead and had cleared a spot in the center of it all for music and dancing.

So far, it had been a success. Eadgyd saw many familiar faces—some that she hadn’t seen in years—and was greeted warmly by a number of people. It had been ages since she’d been at the center of anything like this and she’d forgotten how much she loved seeing others enjoy the fruits of her labors.

There was, however, one person who seemed to be missing. While she’d seen Hild and Wynflaed at the center of several conversations, she’d scarcely seen Dalla speak with anyone: a surprise, since she was usually the most talkative of the three. Thankfully, that meant that Eadgyd could easily slip away to look for Dalla. She found the younger woman sitting under a tree, her face turned away from the festivities. She looked up as Eadgyd approached and a smile flicked briefly across her face.

“There you are,” Eadgyd said. “Do you mind if I sit?”

Dalla shrugged. “Go ahead,” she said, sliding over to make room for Eadgyd.

“You’re awfully quiet tonight,” Eadgyd said as she sat down beside Dalla.

Dalla sighed and ran a hand through her hair, pushing her dark waves back from her face. “I’m having an awful lot of feelings,” she admitted. “But don’t let me ruin the night for you—you worked hard for this and you deserve to celebrate.”

“Dalla,” Eadgyd began, “you’d have to draw your daggers and start slicing people up for you to ruin this night for me. If you’d like to talk, I’m more than happy to listen.”

“That’s just it,” Dalla said, sighing heavily as she leaned back against the tree. “I’m not even sure where to begin. I’m happy that I have a place in this community, but feeling how loved I am here only makes it harder when I think of my parents and how they treated me.”

Eadgyd nodded. “Frida and Theo told me a little,” she said. “From what I gathered, it seems you’re much better off here than you were with them.”

Dalla laughed somewhat tearfully, moving closer to Eadgyd. “You’re probably right,” she said. “They spent most of their lives clawing their way up into the wealthy elite and they saw me as little more than a means of raising our family even higher. I’ve always had a good memory—I can recall things that happened years ago as clearly as though they were last week—so as soon as we moved to Dale, my parents had me spy for them.”

“Then you would’ve been...ten years old?” Eadgyd asked. “Or did I count wrong?”

“You counted perfectly,” Dalla replied. “They knew that no one would suspect a child of my age, so they put me wherever they thought I might hear something useful and would have me repeat back everything to them. There were times when I tried to keep secrets, but then they’d lock me in my room and give me naught but water and bread until I told them what I’d heard. Eventually, I learned what to listen for and I could put the pieces together myself, but it was never enough. They always wanted more than I could give.”

Dalla paused to wipe the tears from her eyes. “Up until I was sixteen or so, I ran myself ragged trying to please them. It was then that I realized that they would never be happy. They spent their whole lives always wanting more, reaching for more, to the point that they never stopped to appreciate all they’d accomplished. That was when I realized that I would be better off pursuing what I wished rather than trying to complete an impossible task.”

Eadgyd shook her head sorrowfully. “How terrible of them—to have such a wonderful daughter and spend all of their time tearing you down instead of building you up.”

Dalla opened her mouth to reply, but all that came out was a choked sob. She buried her head in Eadgyd’s shoulder and sobbed, her shoulders shaking as she clung to Eadgyd as though she was a small child. Eadgyd stroked her hair as she wept, whispering words of comfort into Dallas’ ear. They sat like that for a good while until Dalla lifted her head, wiping the tears from her eyes.

“Oh, I’ve gone and made a mess on you,” she said, gesturing to the stains her kohl had left on Eadgyd’s shirt. “I reckon I look like a raccoon now as well.”

“That’s fixed easily enough,” Eadgyd said as she pulled a handkerchief from her pocket. “Do you mind?”

“Go ahead—I’ve no idea where the worst of it is,” Dalla replied.

Eadgyd nodded and wiped the smudged kohl from Dalla’s face until it was clean. “Much better,” she said. “Do you think you feel up to getting something to eat? If you’d rather stay here, I’ll bring you something.”

Dalla paused to think for a moment. “I think I’d like to go back,” she said. “Thank you for listening—I feel much better now.”

“I’m glad,” Eadgyd said as she stood, offering a hand to help Dalla up. “If you want to talk more—tonight or any time—you need only ask. I might not be wise like Mother is—like she was, I should say—but I’ve seen more than my share and will offer what advice you can.”

“I will,” Dalla said as she pulled herself up with Eadgyd’s hand and began to walk back towards the festivities with her. “I know everyone talks about how Avina’s like your mother, but you’re like her as well.”

“Truly?” Eadgyd asked. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone tell me that.”

Dalla nodded vigorously. “You’d do anything for your family, even if it means risking your own safety. That’s the first thing I noticed about Swithun and the first thing I noticed about you as well.”

Eadgyd pondered Dalla’s words in silence for a moment. She’d been compared to her mother in terms of appearance—she’d inherited Swithun’s blue-grey eyes and dark hair—but in terms of temperament, everyone said she was like her father. Dalla’s words gave her comfort and served to remind her that a piece of Swithun would live on within her.

“Thank you,” Eadgyd said. “That’s...something I really needed to hear.”

“Any time,” Dalla replied, a smile curving her lips. “I’m surprised no one else said anything to you, but I suppose I’ve had a bit of practice noticing things that others don’t.”

“Just a bit, hmm?” Eadgyd teased.

“All right, more than a bit,” Dalla said. “But enough talk of that for tonight. I’ve gotten my tears out and I’m absolutely famished. I just hope I didn’t miss out on the food.”

“Don’t worry,” Eadgyd said. “Frida and Theo made sure to save some for you. They both figured you’d be hungry when you got back.”

“I really do have the best spouses,” Dalla said half to herself before turning to Eadgyd. “And the best sister. Thank you again.”

“Of course,” Eadgyd said, giving Dalla a final hug. “Now go get your stuffed mushrooms before Frida finishes them off.”

“She wouldn’t dare!” Dalla cried as she ran towards Frida and Theo’s table, weaving effortlessly through the crowd on her way.

Eadgyd watched her go, glad to see that Dalla was feeling more like herself. She understood how difficult it could be to speak of the pain in one’s past and was glad that Dalla had trusted her enough to do so. She and Eadgyd might have grown up in wildly different circumstances, but they were sisters now, and Eadgyd was glad to call Dalla one of her kin.

**Author's Note:**

> I just want to give Dalla a hug and some tea and a copy of my cPTSD workbook.
> 
> She will definitely show up in future pieces: some that deal with her trying to introduce her partners to her parents (which, uh...doesn't go well) and adapting to life with the Beornings (she loves it, but she's lived in cities her whole life and is a little thrown by not being able to just...go to a shop and get something).
> 
> Please comment if you enjoyed!
> 
> Twitter: @_tenderqueer  
> Tumblr: dwarrowdams  
> TikTok: @tenderqueer


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